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2024 Best Public Relations & Advertising Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

10 Colleges in Illinois
811 Bachelor's Degrees
$38,219 Avg Early-Career Salary
Public Relations & Advertising is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #32 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 10 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of public relations & advertising. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 811 bachelor's degrees in public relations & advertising during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Public Relations & Advertising School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Public Relations & Advertising Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois Your choice of public relations & advertising for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for public relations & advertising students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Public Relations Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Public Relations & Advertising Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Public Relations & Advertising in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Public Relations

1
222 Annual Graduates
$42,675 Median Starting Salary
$23,250 Median Student Debt

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a wonderful option for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population.

Public Relations & Advertising bachelor's degree recipients from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign receive an earnings boost of approximately $4,456 above the average income of public relations & advertising graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
189 Annual Graduates
$38,478 Median Starting Salary
$24,500 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising needs to check out DePaul University. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public relations program report average early career earnings of $38,478.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from DePaul University

3
127 Annual Graduates
$40,389 Median Starting Salary
$25,000 Median Student Debt

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising has to look into Loyola University Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those public relations & advertising students who get their bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago receive $2,170 more than the typical public relations grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Loyola University Chicago

4
69 Annual Graduates
$36,966 Median Starting Salary
$26,819 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Bradley University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising. Located in the midsize city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Soon after graduation, public relations bachelor's recipients usually earn about $36,966 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Bradley University

5
89 Annual Graduates
$38,618 Median Starting Salary
$22,500 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public relations program report average early career wages of $38,618.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Illinois State University

6
North Central crest
North Central College
Naperville, IL
11 Annual Graduates
$41,154 Median Starting Salary
$26,899 Median Student Debt

Located in the medium-sized city of Naperville, North Central is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Public Relations & Advertising bachelor's degree recipients from North Central College earn a boost of around $2,935 above the average earnings of public relations & advertising graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from North Central College

7
26 Annual Graduates
$38,669 Median Starting Salary
$26,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public relations program report average early career earnings of $38,669.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Columbia College Chicago

8
25 Annual Graduates
$23,745 Median Student Debt

EIU is a moderately-sized public university located in the town of Charleston.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Eastern Illinois University

9

Located in the suburb of Bourbonnais, Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public relations program report average early career income of $28,800.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Olivet Nazarene University

10
Trinity Christian crest
Trinity Christian College
Palos Heights, IL
9 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Palos Heights, Trinity Christian is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Trinity Christian College

Best Public Relations & Advertising Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Public Relations & Advertising Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 1,167
Ohio 252 576
Indiana 235 287
Wisconsin 213 268

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Public Relations & Advertising is one of 5 different types of Communication & Journalism programs to choose from.

Public Relations Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Advertising 263
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication 249
Public Relations 151
General Organizational Communication 59
Sports Communication 48
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication 24
Health Communication 17

Related Major Annual Graduates
Communication & Media Studies 1,802
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 510
Journalism 300
Communication & Journalism (Other) 44

Notes and References

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